Replace or move VC Encore?

[bobabuoy]

Hi All,

Not sure what to do here. I've had a VC 2n1 Encore for a few years now and have trouble with backpuffing. This is most likely because my chimney is neither optimally installed nor tall enough. The original owner of my house installed the fireplace on the corner of the house and it worked fine for the Vigilant. When I replaced the Vigilant with the Encore I started to have problems.

Chimney height from flue collar to top is 14 ft. (manual says it needs 16'). To make matters worse, ~7ft of the chimney is above the roof (already strapped). I don't think I can add any more height where is it now.

My question is would I be better off moving the stove to the center of my house so that I can get more chimney inside the attic and then add some height to get it to 16 ft? Or could I replace the stove with a model that will work effectively with a 14ft chimney as described?

Both are going to cost money, but I would like to have the best solution in the end.

Thansk,

 

[begreen]

A few pretty easy breathing stoves are the Quadrafire Isle Royale, the PE Summit (or Alderlea T6) and the Woodstock Fireview. I have no personal experience with the Fireview but Dennis says his drafts well on a short stack.Not sure about the PH.

You will have to decide what is the best course of action. If the new location will help with heat distribution throughout the house then maybe that would be a good move. A warmer chimney will also help draft. That said, I would only move the chimney if that gave you gain about 5 ft in height or more, straight up.

 

[bobabuoy]

Thanks, Begreen. I Realized I miscalculated my chimney height - It is in fact already 16ft. I also checked and I would only gain 36" or so of attic-enclosed chimney. It may not be worth moving it. I really like the Quadra but it might be a little pricey for me. Does the Alderea T6 load North-South?

 

[begreen]

Yes, both the T5 and the T6 have a squarish firebox that loads N/S and E/W.

How are you running the Encore, cat mode or secondary? How dry was the wood that was burnt? Seasoned wood and good draft is critical to success in downdraft stoves.

 

[bobabuoy]

I was running it mostly in cat mode. The wood I had was very dry - unfortunately, the splits were smaller than average (width) and so they burned too easily. I checked the moisture content, and they were consistently 16% and below.

The main issue I had was with smoke coming out of the stove when reloading. It didn't always happen, but it was frequent enough that my wife would get irritated by me opening the windows to flush out the smoke. The stove does backpuff, but this is partly related to the smaller wood burning too fast and throttling down the air.

 

[begreen]

I don't get backpuffing, but do get an occasional light smoke spill when loading in very mild weather. I think it's because I have an offset right at the flue collar. Fortunately my wife likes fresh air and is happy to have a window open a bit. Once it gets colder this ceases to be an issue. At that point we are burning 24/7 and the draft is stronger.

 

[aansorge]

Close enough?

(broken link removed to http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/hsh/4069917680.html)

 

[bobabuoy]

Close enough?

(broken link removed to http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/hsh/4069917680.html)

Thanks. I have been going back and forth regarding buying a used stove. I worry that I would be getting something that might have a hidden problem - i.e. cracks, air leaks, etc., that I would struggle with. I don't have the know-how to look over a stove thoroughly enough before buying. (kind of like buying a used car) Plus, the fireview is the one Woodstock stove design that I don't like as much as the others.

I was actually considering looking at a new Fireview, but I see that the flue is 7" and so I would have to spend money on all new chimney.

 

[jharkin]

Have you tried simple fixes like just opening the air control (draft) more on milder days when the backpuffing is likely?

I also have an Encore on a minimal chimney (around 15ft, never measured exactly). I will get smoke from the top load on days over 40F if I am not careful. the routine I learned is to do the following to warm up the flue on reloads:

- Air wide open
5 min
- Open damper
another 5 min

Then open the loading door. This lets the fire heat up a bit to warm the flue and boost draft.

 

[bobabuoy]

I do normally open the air up full, open the damper (for 30secs to a minute) and usually crack the top to make sure I hear a whistle. However, I don't wait as long as you recommend which is something I will definitely do in the future.The smoke spillage can occur even when it is extremely cold out (below freezing). This is what makes me concerned that the 8 feet of exposed chimney above the roof is actually hurting rather than helping.